New and Improved Jewelreef

April 19, 2009

We apologize for not posting last week but there was a disease take over that took place, and we got quite busy moving fish, doing a water change, moving rock walls and putting all of it back when all fish were cured. We also apologize for the length of this one sincerely, but you will like our new additions to jewelreef. Isn't jewelreef beautiful now??

Fungai Disc Coral

This one was the choice of Sweets, it is a lps (long polyp stoney). This girl is pretty cool to watch during feeding because its white mouth opens at the top/middle to take in food, but if it doesn't land in her mouth and instead on her tentacles, the tentacles will work the food up to her mouth. This little gal earned the nickname Peaches.

Fungai Plate Coral

This guy is also the choice of Sweets and although its feeding habits are the same as Peaches, it remains flat hence the name Plate. Due to his coloration, he earned the nickname Sprite.

Red Mushroom Polyp

This guy was the choice of Jewel. The local fish store called him a "Red" mushroom polyp, but due to his real color and texture, he instantly earned the nickname Oranges. Wish there was more to say, but being a mushroom...they don't do anything extraordinary soooo onto the next.


Maxima Clam

This is a different one we promise! He was the choice of Brother Bates. He has a different pattern that really caught everyones eye as you can see for yourself its a little sixties thing going on (tie-dye). Brother Bates decided to give him the nickname Purple Haze. Has anyone seen Jimmie??

Purple Elegant Firefish

This one was chosen by Maltese. She was a difficult decision because no one was sure of whether she would fight over territory with the Flame Firefish, but with some research, we found that the sized tank we have they should have enough space where there won't be a territory issue, and so far so good. She is another very colorful fish and we decided to name her Violet.

Feather Duster Worms

These were the pick of Jewel. Jewel absolutely adores these feather dusters because of the way that they sway so peacefully in the water current and the way that they bloom like a flower when they come out of their worm. Oh and lets not forget....they're pretty. The one on the left earned the nickname Fu Man Chu because if you look close enough in the center of his crown he has a face with a mustache (fu man chu), the one on the right earned the nickname French Maid because he looks a lot like a feather duster that a french maid would use.

Sixline Wrasse


This was the choice of Maltese. We noticed a growing number in bristle worms, and this is one of the reef safe tank mates that will keep their numbers in check, and he just so happens to be a pretty fish. Due to his colorations (purple in the front and green in the back) he earned the nickname Syrah...you know the grape?

Neon Green Bird's Nest

This little guy was the choice of Maltese. With his beautiful neon green polyps he will grow more horizontally and full like a bird's nest rather than vertically. As he gets bigger his polyps will enlarge as well making him a full, beautiful neon green bird's nest and for obvious reasons he was nicknamed Emerald.

Australian Sailfin Tang

This was the choice of Maltese and Jewel. Maltese wanted a sailfin and Jewel picked him out. His beautiful colorations and large upper/lower fins makes him an angelic addition to jewelreef. The interesting thing about him is that he will grow more so vertically so his fins will be much larger than they are now. Because of the black stripe going across his eyes he earned the nickname Bandit.

Open Brain Coral LPS

This one was the choice of Jewel. He doesn't do anything special, but when we get the lunar lights you will see how spectacular he is because he gets all glowy and stuff. He has a plether of colors under regular light that makes him a visual marvel in jewelreef. He got the nickname Oz because when we were looking for a coral like this Jewel kept telling me that she wanted a brain, so I said that we're off to see the wizard, and that's how he got the name.

Blue Hippo Tang

This radiant beauty was the choice of Maltese. He was chosen due to his peaceful nature and color. His pectoral fins flap up and down like a bird instead of front to back like a fish so it looks like he's flying in the water. When his dorsal fin is erect it looks like he has a hat on. Due to his nature he's been given the name Sapphire because he is the jewel of Jewelreef.

Polyp Cluster

This cluster was the choice of Brother Bates. Everything on this cluster is a soft polyp coral from four different zooanthids (button polyps) to a white star polyp, two different mushrooms and palm tree polyps. It was nicknamed Fantasia because of the array of colors and obviously multiple species. When looking at Jewelreef for some reason your eyes will always come back to this cluster.

Electric Flame Scallops


These were the choice of Maltese who had to wait awhile to get due to lack of LFS (local fish store). As you can see along the lining of their mouths, it's actually color flashes that looks a lot like electricity. Unfortunately they like to stay in the dark and that means in the rock wall they hide, but one has been considerate enough to stay somewhat visible. They move around by rapidly opening and closing their shells creating a jet stream that propels them through the water. We got a little disappointed by their elusive behavior and blurted out names that are not meant for tv so they got the nicknames Flame and Fire.

Thank you for joining us in our saltwater trials and tribulations, see you next time and have a blessed week.

New tank mates and one loss

Well since the last time we posted it's been an emotional rollercoaster with some new arrivals and one that had to leave jewel reef, but he will not be forgotten. Now we will begin with the bad news; four of our hermit crabs were killed by the arrow crab and this is why he is no longer with us. He went back to the pet store on Saturday so this cool guy was not invertebrate safe so we say good bye to Yao Ming, but Brother Bates did pick a cool coral in his place as you will see.

arrow crab-hope he finds a good home

Now on to the good news: this tank is really starting to look amazing but it is far from done, this photo was taken Friday which means that we are up to date on the posting, so from now it is in real time and we hope you have and will enjoy our journey with the makings of a reef tank.

April 4 2009

More zoanthus (green and orange) this beautiful coral was picked out by Jewel and we are trying to add more brilliant colors but its hard because of the age of the tank, but we have plenty of time and room to do it. He is another that feeds off of photosynthesis, he closes at night and will be completely open ten minutes after the light come back on. The name that was chosen for this guy is "Bi Colony".

orange and green zoanthus

This clam was the picked by Sweets, it is called a Derasa clam with some wonderful colors within her from brown and white outlined in a neon green color. We tried to put her on the rock wall but she seems to like the substrate better. She mostly feeds off of photosynthesis but, she also filter feeds meaning that she will help clean the tank of left over food and other undesirable things that float around "keep up the good work." "The name that was chosen is Pearl".

Derasa clam

This fat little coral was the pick of Jewel; its called the Tongue coral. He lounges on the substrate and feeds off of low light and looks like a hairy tongue. The colors on this little guy is mostly beige and a little mother of preal on its base and the hairs look like tentacales that wave in the current. The name that was chosen for this one is "((Cousin)) Cuz Its Tongue".

tongue coral

Now this guy here is one that Malteseputter is trying to figure out what's up with his wife's side of the family because Brother Bates picked this beautiful, yet aggressive coral. It is called the long tentacle frogspawn coral which has a brilliant transparent green coloring with sweeping tentacles that will sting anything that gets too close. The bubble like tentacles is where it gets its food, and also feeds from the lights. He was the exchange for the arrow crab and what a good exchange it was. It turns out that all arrow crabs like to feast on other crustaceans so if you do start a reef tank leave that guy out. Don't you just want to pop these bubbles like bubble wrap.... :-) He earned the nickname "Puph Daddy."

long tentacle frogspawn coral

This is the last guy of the blog. Well, not much can be told about this montipora coral . He is a frag from a bigger coral and from the photos online of this guy he will grow like a tree and have a deep purple coloring but for now he's just a little guy. It was the choice of Malteseputter and we do have high hopes for him. He has earned the nickname "Stix." Due to him being a SPS (small polyp stony) and jewel reef being at the beginners stage this will be a test to see if we're ready for the bigger and better corals.


montipora coral (sps)


Well, thats all for now but we still have two fish in the quaratine tank and should be in jewel reef by next Friday, and I can't wait until you see them so stay tuned for the next blog and have blessed week.

stage five cont.....

Welcome back to stage five there is so much more to share, that we needed to make another blog so lets get started. From the last blog we displayed some beautiful fish and coral as we will do so today.

capnella

This little beauty was a Malteseputter choice, it is a soft coral that branches out like a tree. It has a nice copper color that stands out in jewel reef. When it is closed it looks like a pine cone. The size at full growth is still unknown to us, but we think he is going to get huge. We named him Merlot, for you wine lovers you know that Campanella is a popular wine that comes in a Merlot.

coral banded serpent starfish

So far this is the only time we've seen this little guy out front and center, and this was the day that we purchased him. He is a bottom feeder that moves more like an octopus than a starfish. How he eats is unknown because he stays well hidden in the reef, so given time we may have more of an insight for you later on. We named him McKay.

fox glove coral

This bubbly guy was Sweets choice, he is a soft coral that feeds off of photosynthesis (light). Under the light which is hard to see in this picture, he actually has iridescent coloring like a saltwater pearl. This guy earned the nickname Bubbles.

cleaner shrimp

Ah the cleaner shrimp! These guys like to hang upside down most of the time patiently waiting for a fish to swim by to make a pit stop for a little makeover. These shrimp actually attach themselves to fish to remove parasites and other undesireables and the fish really don't mind the cleaner shrimp doing just that, which makes them an essential part of the reef system. Oh, and they're cool! They are nicknamed The Peppermint Twins.

white star polyp (yellow)

This pretty little thing was Luckylavender's choice. It's just like the white star polyp (green) only it is a brilliant yellow with a pale pink underside, which makes this coral a very colorful and calming addition to jewel reef. It's fun to watch it retract when you brush against it, to only watch it bloom once again. His name is Sunny.

green brittle starfish

This alien-looking starfish was the choice of Brother Bates. This starfish is the most active one that we have, he's usually in the back chilling and as soon as we put food in the reef, in a matter of 10 seconds he's out and trying to grab at every piece of food particles that he can get his octopus tentacles on. The cool part is when he finally catches a food particle at the tip of his tentacle, because he rolls it up until it gets within close reach of his mouth (underside of his body) like an octopus and then meals away. We nicknamed him Spike.

koko worm

The KoKo worm is beautiful to look at unless he's hiding, but to watch him come back to life is the most amazing thing to see because it's like watching a flower bloom except for it's not petals, but feather-like pom poms. The slightest disruption in the reef will make him retract into his worm extremely fast. We're guessing that he's light and motion sensitive due to the fact that there's no eyes, but somehow he knows when to duck and cover. His nickname is CoCo Chanel.

two emerald crabs with a turbo snail

These small true crabs are probably our most amusing reef mates yet. Why? you might ask...because they're very bold to be so small. One day while enjoying the reef tank, we noticed the angelfish getting a little too close to one of the emeralds, and the next thing we knew the emerald decided to protect his space by putting up his dukes ready to fight, and mind you the angelfish is much much bigger, but the emerald crab didn't care not one bit about size and almost got ahold of the angelfish, and this is how they got the nickname The Fighting Celtics, but the angelfish kept moving on about his daily routine as if nothing had happened. These guys are another source of janitorial services within the reef tank that cleans up algae and debris left over from those pesky little things we call fish. The turbo snail in the photo was nicknamed Lucky due to the fact that when we purchased our live rock he was a hitchhiker within the live rock and continued to thrive even though he was out of water for awhile.

maxima clam

Bet you've never seen a clam this beautiful before HUH??? His mantle is a velvet purple color that feeds off of the light, but the muscle inside is the actual filter feeder. He helps to keep the water clean so he's not only beautiful but a beneficial addition to our peaceful reef tank, and soon he'll have similar individuals to compete with. Because of his coloring he earned the nickname Crown Royal...anyone got a glass and some coke?!?

blue and green chromis

These guys were Malteseputter and Jewel's choice due to the fact that they were one of the few fish that we could have a school of in this sized reef tank. They are really pretty because they change colors from blue to green to yellow depending on the angle and light. They stick together and are very social and sometimes you get a glimpse of two sharing food, but it looks like they're kissing. We couldn't possibly name all individually so we named them The Marlins.

Stage five

march 15,2009

Look at that Stage 5 is the best so far and it keeps getting better as you see and is bursting with life. We went down to the pet store with the family and spent over 4 hundred dollars in coral and fish. The person helping us was all over the place trying so hard to keep up that he forgot some of the live stock we wanted OPPPS!!

arrow crab

This cool guy was the choice of my brother in-law, it is a crab but looks like a daddy long leg. He sits on the rock swaying about moving the substrate around finding food. His legs will get to 12 inches but his body will be around 4 inches. When we put him in the tank for the first time he looked like a rain drop.

White star polyp (green)

This coral was Malteseputter's choice, it does look like grass waving in the wind. Its a low to mid level placement coral and feeds mostly off the light, and with all the other corals we must add calcium and mineral supplements to the tank. This one is pretty to watch.

pair of black and white clownfish

Ah the black and white clowns.... they are two of the most calming fish to watch, oh and very cool to watch. They are always beside one another, you see one there is the other kinda like us "smile." These guys were our choice, but jewel named them daniel and vala from the show stargate sg-1.

flame firefish

Now isn't he pretty? Another choice of my brother in-law. The firefish loves to hang out in the open water, but spook him and he goes into the rock wall faaasssst maybe the quickest fish in the tank. I would go into all the colors that are on him but it would take forever so lets just say that he is a very colorful fish and a beautiful addition to jewel reef.

bicolor blenny

Here's one of the smallest additions to jewel reef, and quite cute I might add. This little blenny was a surprise by malteseputter and was put in the day after the initial big buy. When jewel noticed him chilling on one of the rocks, she asked, "What is that?", but as she watched him his behavior was so cute that she fell in love with him instantly. What he likes to do is hang out on rocks watching the daily routines of the tank, and when he thinks that things aren't kosher, he dips into one of the live rock crevices. One of the amazing things about him is that at night he will blend with the rock by changing his natural color to milk white. You might ask what makes this little guy so cute? As you watch him, he'll get as close as possible to you, and look up and down only by moving his eyes.

galaxea coral

This beautiful yet aggressive coral was picked by jewel...go figure that she would pick something aggressive "smile" is one of our more impressive corals at this time. As you can see, the white at the bottom right are actually sweeping tentacles which are used for eating and stinging any coral or fish within 4 inches in each direction. He's another one that waves in the current looking like grass in the wind, and we're hoping that he will also glow under the lunar lights when we finally obtain them. Jewel is one proud mama of this big baby!

Stage four

Ah stage four a great step for us where we were able to add live stock that we wanted not what came with the live rock. Lets see first new addition where the fire shrimps you see on the right they do hide alot, but they do let themselves be known when it is feeding time. They bully the other shrimp when they get too close to there home but stay to themselves. As you can see on the photo on the right they have plenty of spaces

to hide.

march10,2009 Fire shrimp

The peppermint shrimp are even more elusive they come out only at night, and that photo took a long time to get. He was added to the tank to help with the aiptasia problem and they seem to be working so no new growth and declining in the ones we do see so yip yee. Our pride and joy even to this day is the flame angel you see to the right a brillant orange with black markings and royal blue tip on his fins. flame angel
peppermint shrimp with a mushroom polyp

This guy has a lot of personality trying to be the big fish in the tank but we'll see how long that lasts when we get a tang in there, but for now he is the top fish. Last but not least the coral frags that we added, four to be exact the the mushroom polyp to the left and the three different button polyps below and these are what makes a reef tank great as you will see. To all friends and family stay tuned more is to come.

Purple button polyps











Green button polyps

Stage three

After 5 days of waiting for the tank to mature enough, we added a small amount of live rock. What is live rock? You might ask..... It is pretty much rock, dead corals from the reef that has been enriched with beneficial bacterias and life forms and a few pests to help with the biological filtration. It all helps with the ecosystem of the reef tank.

February 28, 2009

After this set of rocks on the right, that we had added we found a little ((friend)) called an Aiptasia which uncontrolled can be a real problem in a reef tank, but so far we have kept the pests under control. As you can see the tank is finally starting to take form. We never in a million years thought that we would spend this much money on rocks especially the ones that don't sparkle (bling bling). Please stay tuned for stage 4!

Stage two

The second stage was setting up the tank; filling it with water, adding salt, getting the specific gravity (salinity) just right which let me tell you for a beginner was quite troublesome because the instructions did not account for the substrate, but we made it through. We then moved on to assembling the added equipment such as the filter, protein skimmer and lights. We were up all night putting it all together but as you will soon see it was worth every pain staking step.

February 26, 2009

It took us 2 days to be able to take this picture. WHY??? You might ask! It was soooooo cloudy from the initial stirring up of the substrate (crushed coral) that we couldn't see the heater. One of the many issues that we faced during the start of a new and exciting project...oh and notice we said "exciting." Stay tuned for the next step.